Ronnie Ortiz-Magro skipped the 2018 MTV Music Video Awards on Monday, August 20. And he was a no-show at the Jersey Shore: Family Reunion filming in July. The 32-year-old has now revealed the reason he has been keeping a low-profile as of late — and it has nothing to do with his tumultuous on-again, off-again relationship with girlfriend Jen Harley.

“Everyone keeps asking where I’ve been,” Ortiz-Margo began in a Tuesday, August 21, Instagram post, featuring a photo of his and Harley’s 4-month-old daughter, Ariana. The MTV personality then explained he is taking time off to be with his little girl. The first-time dad noted that he will still appear on the Jersey Shore spinoff and is just taking a breather.

“I’d rather be there for her in person than to have to watch her grow through Text messages & IG posts,” wrote Ortiz-Margo. “I can give her everything in the world, but if I can’t give her a relationship or a bond than all of this is for nothing at the end of the day.”

Ariana has been a constant bright spot in Ortiz-Magro’s life during a rocky few months. In April, just three weeks after Harley, 31, gave birth, the couple had a brutal fight on social media with him accusing her of keeping sex tapes with ex-boyfriends. She in turn, called him a “coke head.” The public spat ended in a breakup. Then in June, the two were involved in a physical altercation in Las Vegas that left him with “minor cuts, scratches and dried blood,” per a police report obtained by Us Weekly.